A Toyota discrimination lawsuit was recently brought against the Japanese car maker for the way it treats its African American rental customers. According to the complaint, one of the African American women who visited the car rental agency on January 8th experienced being turned down, told that she did not have a driver’s license and that she could not rent the car. On the same day the same female was returning to the car rental agency from a trip and was being told again that she could not rent the car there. This went on for three days until the woman decided to take her case to court.
The woman says that on January 9th she went to pick up her car from the car rental agency. Once at the rental location the car representative again told her that she could not rent the car there and that she needed to go to the car rental agency to get a driver’s license. According to the complaint the woman was then taken to a departmental building where a Departmental Inspector in the area took pictures of her and wrote down her correct identification and told her that her employment contract stated that she could not rent a Toyota. She was further taken to an office where she was given papers stating that her contract was canceled by Toyota and that she would need to get a new one or else lose her job.
After going through all of this harassment and having her car repeatedly rejected at every turn, the woman got a lawyer and filed a discrimination charge with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC). According to the EEOC, Toyota discriminated against her because of her gender, race and national origin. The EEOC states that they received nine discrimination charges last year alone. The EEOC has also filed a suit against another car rental agency that is currently facing a discrimination case of its own. The EEOC says that the company has been ignoring complaints about its employee treatment of African Americans.
Toyota has denied any wrongdoing and has stated that they follow all of the applicable employment and housing discrimination laws very closely. The company has also stated that they are in the process of updating their anti-discrimination policies. Currently, according to the EEOC, there is one general car policy that they have for employees working for them and another for rental car agencies. According to the EEOC, this policy covers all employees regardless of gender, race or nationality. They also state that they have specific policies for their contractors and for subcontractors.
This new policy for car rental agencies is being called “The New Buzz” by lawyers who specialize in human rights cases. This new policy states that if an agency refuses to rent a car to someone based solely on their sexual orientation, then the agency will be guilty of illegal discrimination. It also covers customers renting from a car rental agency. According to the EEOC, if a car rental agency sells cars to customer based on the gender or nationality of those customers, then the company is committing illegal discrimination.
A Toyota discrimination lawsuit could result in huge payouts to those who have been affected. If you or someone you know has been affected by this violation of federal law, then it is in your best interest to contact a skilled car rental attorney who specializes in this type of case. The first step an experienced car rental lawyer will take is reviewing the details of your case and gathering substantial evidence to prove that you have been affected by illegal actions. From there, your lawyer will determine whether or not your case has a strong chance of winning.